A remedial class for the students of Class X at Government Model Senior Secondary School in Dhanas village of Chandigarh. (Photo: Express archives)
With more than half the government school students failing to clear Class X exams this year, the Union Territory Education Secretary B L Sharma has directed the director, school education, to issue show cause notices to the principals or heads of such institutes whose pass percentage is below 50 per cent. Sharma on Wednesday said said “punitive action” would be initiated if the replies were “unsatisfactory”. Asked what he meant by punitive action, Sharma said it meant suspension.
“Since various other provisions of initiating punitive action like withholding increment or reduction in rank is time consuming and are done only after holding proper inquiry, initially we will just put the teacher or principal concerned under suspension, depending on the gravity. Like there are over 4,000 students who got compartments. It means that the teacher of a particular subject is at fault,” he added.
“We are in the process of issuing show cause notices, in which they will be asked to explain why the result was poor and who is responsible for it. In a city that is considered the best for education, this kind of poor result will not be tolerated. They should not dupe the society. The teachers should understand that they are paid to perform and salaries are not being given in charity,” the education secretary told Chandigarh Newsline. The education secretary also directed that the performance of the schools must reflect in the Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs) of the teachers concerned.
“The ACRs will be written in an objective manner like a score will be given on the school’s performance. The staff is in the process of formulating the scores and it will be done soon. There are some schools in the periphery also that have performed extremely well and not just the teachers concerned will be issued appreciation letters, but a good score in the ACRs will also be given,” Sharma said.
Sharma added that it was important for teachers to bear the brunt of the poor performance so that they ensure good result from next year.
“Next year, the department will also consider teacher training and surprise checks at schools,” he said. A total of 10,850 government school students appeared for the Class X exams this year, but 5,567 students, which is 51.49 per cent, could not pass. Government Model Senior Secondary School (GMSSS), Sector 38 (West), Chandigarh, was the worst performing school in the city with a pass percentage of just 7.94 in Class X. Next in line was GMHS, Sector 22 C, with 8.11 per cent followed by GMHS, Karsan, with 13.1 pass percentage.